The prior art has addressed a need to have the pickup end of a pickup tube track a low point within a liquid reservoir, which low point migrates about the bottom of a container as the container is tipped.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,490,656, issued to Kenneth A. Taschner on Jan. 20, 1970, discloses a pickup tube for use in spray dispensing apparatus employing compressed gas propellant. The pickup tube is flexible along its entire length, and includes a weighted pickup terminal end.
U.K. Pat. Application No. 2,136,057A, published on Sep. 12, 1984, shows a pickup tube providing similar function to that of Taschner. The U.K. reference disclosed tube structure comprising series connected, hollow compartments communicating through common openings. Each compartment has an expanded center portion and a constricted waist, each waist being common to adjacent compartments. Flexure at the waists is cumulative, the result being that a length including a plurality of compartments enables considerable bending ability and flexibility. Thus, the pickup tube of the U.K. reference achieves bending even though the tube is not highly flexible along a continuous wall thickness length, as is provided in Taschner. The U.K. reference also discloses a weight disposed at the pickup end of the tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,974, issued to Fredrick J. Mann on Jun. 9, 1992, discloses a pickup tube selectively drawing liquid from a container for subsequent dispensing selectively from a high or low location within the container, dependent upon the upright orientation thereof.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.